This month, much of the activity revolved around one of Fargo’s biggest events of the year: TEDxFargo, held on July 23. In fact, we might even start calling August the Post-TEDxFargo Recovery Month, because after 8 months of planning, it takes a while to recover.

1 Million Cups: Two Standing Ovations?!

While the TEDx team was busy prepping for the event, summer events in Fargo continued on a strong note. 1 Million Cups in particular saw a series of stellar presentations. 13-year-old Kayla from Kayla Cares 4 Kids kicked it off with her story, and received only the second ever standing ovation from the crowd (the first was for 89-year-old Jim Bastian).

Later in the month, we had the pleasure to host visitors from out of town; like Nathan Clark, co-founder of marshmallow company Wondermade and speaker at TEDxFargo,  and DJ Spooky, world-renowned hip hop artist and author of The Imaginary App.  We also featured more “random acts of art” this month, featuring an opening number by Skye Steele, a guitarist who tours with Vanessa Carlton, and a performance from world class violinist from Texas, Leoncarlo Canlas – who received the third ever standing ovation (two in one month!)

Stepping forward, statewide.

Huge news came from our neighbors in Bismark this month as well, with their announcement of hiring their first employee and launching their first coworking space. 

Here in Fargo, Senator Heidi Heitkamp took steps forward by hosting the first Senate Small Business Committee Field Hearing, where local leaders continued the discussion on how North Dakota can land federal funding for more rural areas.

Taking Initiative

A big highlight this month was watching people really step up to create value in the community. Girl Develop It Fargo and Fargo Game Makers Meet-up came together to plan an event in less than a month, in response to a need in the community as a get-to-know-you platform for the local tech meet-ups. Tech Tailgate was born, and was a smashing success.

Or CJ Schnase, who decided to host a 24-hour Game Jam and threw it together in less than a week. He was able to gather three teams together and they became some of the first ever event attendees at the Prairie Den – not to mention they created three sweet lookin’ games in 24 hours.

Transforming the Prairie Den

The Prairie Den itself experienced a radical transformation this month. In just 72 hours, AJ Leon and a few artists from Misfit Inc., swept into Fargo and began re-imagining and re-disgning the space.

Local artist Nichole Rae did hand lettering along all the door frames, another local graffiti artists named Nick turned the conference room into a colorful array of Thoreau, Emerson, and quotes from AJ’s book The Life and Times of a Remarkable Misfit, an artist named Jay handpainted designs around the artwork hanging and is currently working on a ceiling piece similar to Starry Night, and the folks from Redoux crafted beautiful standing desks and designed a collection of paintings featuring our motto: A home for the bold.

“The Den” had its first official opening launch on July 22 at a Startup Drinks that ended up being one of our biggest ever – complete with hot dogs, drinks, live music, and over 100 people. AJ spoke about his inspiration for the space, sharing his vision to turn the Prairie Den into a place that is so artistically unique, it is impossible to replicate.

Just this week, local Prairie Den co-founders began springing up across the board wearing the co-founder shirts. What an incredible testament to the love within our community, that is helping to bring this place to life!

A Life-Changing Event

To top it all off, the month rounded off with what TEDxFargo lead creative Jeff Knight describes as “the most well-orchestrated TEDxFargo yet.” Over 1,800 attendees and 22 keynote speakers, not to mention musical performances, filled a Civic Center that didn’t even look like the Civic Center. The responses to the event have been overwhelmingly positive – from strangers sending e-mails of gratitude, to long social media posts talking about how TEDxFargo was a life-changing day.

THANK. YOU.

The proper way to tie the ribbon on July is with a resounding thank you. Thank you for supporting the Prairie Den, thank you for coming to TEDxFargo, thank you for participating. We believe it is this, the love and energy that permeates this city and turns it into a community, that attracts people to Fargo. Ted Dintersmith, a TEDxFargo speaker visiting from Virginia, put it well in the first four words of his first phone call with his wife:

“Elizabeth, Fargo is awesome.”

That about sums it up.

Cheers, to August!

Photos courtesy of Dan Francis, Marisa Jackels, and Bri Lee.